Coastguard call off search for missing sailors

The US Coast Guard called off its search at 3am British time, and an RAF Hercules plane due to hunt for the four sailors will not go out today.

Underwater imagery taken by a swimmer from a US Navy warship showed the raft clearly stowed in place, indicating it had not been deployed in an emergency.

The upturned yacht was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean yesterday, about 1,000 miles (1,609km) east of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.

Its cabin was completely flooded and windows were shattered, and there was no sign of survivors. Coast guard officials decided to call off the search for the men,

experienced captain Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey, and crew members James Male, 23, from Southampton, Steve Warren, 52, from Bridgwater, Somerset, and Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, Somerset - unless there was new information or sightings which suggested they would still be alive.